After a temporary plateau in February, the number of Americans receiving food stamps ticked up again in March. Nearly 44.6 million received food stamps in March, up more than 11% from the same time a year ago, the Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.

The share of the population receiving food stamps nationwide has also risen as households struggle with high unemployment and stagnant wages. Some 14.4% of Americans relied on food stamps in March, up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

All but three states reported a larger share of the population relying on food stamps compared to March 2010. And those states that saw the largest increases in recipiency were scattered across the country.

New Mexico reported the largest jump: 19.9% of the state’s population relied on the program in March, up 2.6 percentage points from a year earlier. In Delaware, 14.9% of residents tapped into the program, up 2.5 points from a year earlier. And in Florida, 16.3% of the population used food assistance, up 2.4 points from a year ago.

The number of people on food stamps rose in every state. But in some areas the population are growing at a faster rate than the number of people on food stamps. The only percentage declines took place in North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. The biggest drop occurred in North Dakota — which had the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 3.3% as of April — but even there the decline was slight. Just 9% of the state’s residents relied on food stamps in March, down 0.3 point from a year earlier.

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